


Seed To A Tree

by ShameInYou



Series: The Staley-Hoon Family [6]
Category: Alice in Chains, Blind Melon
Genre: Drama, Family, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-15 09:11:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2223498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShameInYou/pseuds/ShameInYou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She didn't understand how hard Shannon had worked to build this life for their family. She was the most important thing in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ego Clash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She didn't understand how hard Shannon had worked to build this life for their family. She was the most important thing in his life.

"No." Shannon replied quickly as he was loading the dishwasher in the kitchen.

His 16 year old daughter Laina stood before him, dressed from head to toe in all black, blonde hair straight and framing her shoulders. Her arms were crossed and she had a frown on her face.

"Daddy...you haven't even listened to anything I've said and you're already saying no!" Laina complained.

Shannon glanced back at his daughter, brows raised as he finished up, starting the dishwasher and he walked into the living room.

"The answer is no Laina. No way. You're too young. No way." Shannon frowned as he walked into the living room.

Laina followed not too far behind.

"Daddy! I don't get it! Daddy I need to do this...we need to do this...All of the other guy's parents are on bored with this!" Laina frowned.

"Well I'm not having it. You're too young Laina. Too young." Shannon replied, tidying up the living room.

As he walked around, Laina followed behind him.

"Daddy I'm nearly an adult! This is so unfair! Why can't I go? I need to do this! I need to! It's not fair!" Laina exclaimed.

Shannon was starting to get slightly annoyed. He had already told his daughter no, and she kept pressing the issue like he was magically going to say yes.

"Laina...just drop it okay? The answer is no." Shannon frowned.

Laina groaned loudly, stomping her foot on the floor, clenching her fists. She was growing frustrated with Shannon.

"Daddy you have to let me do this!" Laina exclaimed.

Shannon had been working hard at his studio lately and he was tired and Laina's sudden life changing idea was starting to get on his nerves.

Why did she think just because she came from a family of musicians that she could just go and do what she wanted?

"I don't have to let you do anything young lady! You're not going and that's final! Fucking drop it!" Shannon exclaimed, frowning at his daughter.

Laina groaned and stormed up the stairs. Shannon sighed and shook his head as he continued tidying up around the house. Laina was at that age where she was testy about everything. Shannon missed his sweet and innocent little girl who used to love him. Now she was this moody, unpredictable brat who was always pushing her luck with him.

__  
One day she'll understand why I do the things I do, why I make the decisions I make.  


Shannon thought to himself as he continued on his quest for OCD tidiness.

Shannon sighed as he heard a door slam upstairs and he heard loud rock music being blasted from Laina's room. She had the volume nearly all the way up that it was nearly shaking the house.

Shannon frowned, dropping everything he was doing to go upstairs and set her straight. She couldn't just blast loud music like this, there were other people living here and she needed to show some respect.

Shannon stormed up the stairs, mumbling to himself and frowning. He walked up to Laina's door and knocked loudly.

"Laina? Laina open the door!" Shannon exclaimed over the loud rock music.

Shannon was getting very irritated. He had no patience for this. There were things that needed to be done around the house and Laina wanted to be annoying like this. Finally, Shannon had had enough and he just turned the doorknob, barging into his daughter's room.

"DADDY! WHAT THE HELL!?" Laina exclaimed, jumping up from her bed, startled when Shannon stormed into her bedroom.

Shannon walked over to her radio and turned it down, turning around and looking at her.

"Laina don't play this music that loud like that! If you need to hear it that loud, use your headphones!" Shannon frowned.

"I'm so sick of you! You can't just barge into my room like that!" Laina frowned, standing up.

Shannon raised his brows, blinking slowly.

"Excuse me? Young lady I pay the bills, and last I checked, you didn't and as long as you're living under my roof, you're gonna do what I say!" Shannon frowned.

"Daddy you treat me like I'm a little fucking kid and I'm so fucking sick of it! I'm not a little kid anymore!" Laina exclaimed, stomping her foot.

"Don't you curse at me! How dare you curse at me young lady! That's it, you know what! You're grounded!" Shannon frowned, shocked that she was cursing at him.

"Grounded? What am I? 11? Daddy you are so uptight! You never want me to have fun! You don't fucking respect me and I'm so sick of it! You treat me like I'm some naive little girl...I'm not! I'm so sick of you and you're rules! Why are you treating me like this? I don't understand and I'm sick of it! Why can't you just let me be who I need to be!" Laina frowned and nearly screamed at Shannon.

Shannon gritted his teeth, all of the frustration seeming to finally spill out of the boiling pot.

"Don't you fucking talk to me like that Laina! I'm your father and you have to respect me! It's the rules of the land! You don't understand because you're just a kid! You don't understand that I just want to protect you! What is this about, the tour? You're not going on any tour! You're too fucking young! I'm not letting you go out and do this shit this young! You are too young to be exposed to that type of stuff! You are still a little girl as far as I'm concerned...you're not mature enough to handle going on tour!" Shannon exclaimed.

"Little girl? You think I'm still a little girl!? Daddy I'm not a little fucking girl anymore! You need to fucking stop living in the past and fucking move on! You don't know me Daddy! I'm ready for this! And I thought asking you about this first would be the right idea. Somehow I knew you would tell me no! It's not fair...you're not being fair! Things aren't like when you were growing up Dad! I'm not like you or Daddy Layne! It hurts so much that you don't fucking trust me and you look at me as a little girl still...daddy you don't know anything about me!" Laina screamed at Shannon, in a vain attempt to show him some sort of maturity, thinking deep down that maybe he would come to his senses and agree that she could go on tour.

"You're not going on any tours and that's final! You still have to finish school! I'm not pulling you out of school! You're gonna graduate and go to college and get a back up plan. Sure it's fine if you wanna be a rockstar but you're not gonna just have that, You're gonna have a back up plan!" Shannon screamed back.

"I feel like you don't have faith in me or something! I thought you said that my band sounded great dad! You don't have any faith in me! I believe in this and I wanna fucking do this! I need to do this!" Laina screamed.

"You're too young and you think you know everything, but you don't! And furthermore...you're not going on a tour for months, with a bunch of boys...with that boyfriend of yours. You're not a Kardashian, you can't just do whatever you want to fucking do. I ain't raising you like that! You've got rules, and structure you have to follow! You're not doing this until after high school and that's fucking final! Enough of this shit! I'm sick of it! You're grounded and I'm taking the modem offline for a week...no internet for a week!" Shannon frowned, pointing at her.

By this point Laina was boiling with so much rage that her face was nearly red. She was so frustrated at Shannon. He didn't understand how much of an inconvenience he was making her life. He was so fucking strict and she couldn't understand why he couldn't ease up a bit. Did he not believe in her? Why was he treating her like she was still 12? She was getting real tired of Shannon's shit.

Shannon was about to walk out but stopped at the thresh hold when Laina yelled at him.

"You're the worst dad ever! You never let me do anything!"

Shannon turned back around, frowning at her.

"Worst dad ever huh? Worst dad ever? Well you have a fucking roof over your head don't you? You have all of your gadgets, a closet full of clothes, a fucking car and you have 3 hot meals a day, and I'm the worst dad ever! You know what...you're just grounded...I can't deal with you right now...grounded until further notice...."

Shannon walked out, slamming the door behind him before he said something he might regret. Laina was so difficult and he was getting real tired of her shit. Why did she think she was an adult? Shannon was just trying to protect her and she couldn't see it.

Shannon frowned and sighed as he walked back down the stairs, continuing his quest for cleanliness. He was officially pissed off. His daughter had the nerve to say he was the "worst dad ever." She was so unappreciative of the life he had built for them.

She wouldn't have lasted a fucking day back in the 80's Lafayette, before smart phones and computers, living the way Shannon used to live. As far as he was concerned, she had it fucking made.

Shannon frowned and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He would disconnect the internet later, when Laina was at school.

Shannon walked out of the room to go tidy up the downstairs bathroom. He was gone nearly 30 minutes. When he walked back into the living room, he looked up to see Laina, her guitar around her back and carrying her school bag and another bag.

"Laina? Excuse me what the hell are you doing!?" Shannon frowned, walking quickly over to her.

She jumped, startled, and looked back at Shannon, turning around and facing him. Her eyes were tear stained, her eyeliner was running from crying.

Shannon frowned, pointing to the stairs.

"Where the hell do you think you're going young lady, you're fucking grounded! Get your ass back up to your room...NOW!" Shannon frowned.

"Fuck you dad, fuck you!" Laina screamed, tears falling down her face.

Shannon's mouth was agape, his eyes widened. Laina had never acted this bad before, or talked to him like this before. He quickly racked his brains for a punishment. She was resisting everything he tried. He couldn't hit her, he had never hit his kids and it wouldn't work now.

"What did you just say to me?" Shannon said softly, frowning.

"I said fuck you! I'm so sick of you dad! I'm sick of living here under you. You're like a fucking dictator! You don't understand me at all! You won't let me do anything!" Laina cried.

"Oh that's a fucking tragedy...you're a teenager with everything you could ever want and I won't let you do anything...get back to your room!" Shannon frowned.

He wasn't taking this seriously. He felt like she was just having one of those awful teenager moments. She was just testing him. She just wanted to be in control but he had to show her who was in control. Shannon reached out and tugged on her bag, trying to take it from her.

"Fuck off dad! I'm not going back to my room!" Laina exclaimed.

Laina was scared. She wanted to do this but she honestly had never done anything like this, but she knew she needed to to prove to Shannon that she wasn't a little fucking girl anymore. She shoved Shannon's hand away from her bag.

Shannon gasped, brows furrowed, looking at his daughter, not knowing what to do. He was angry as hell. He couldn't hit her, so he did the next best thing he could to to relieve his anger. He cursed loudly and picked up the nearest knick nack, chucking it across the room.

Laina winced as it hit the wall and shattered, making a loud noise. Shannon was fuming, his face red, his fists clenched.

"I'm warning you Laina, go back to your god damned room. When Layne gets back home, we're gonna have a serious fucking talk about what to do to punish you. You can't talk to me like this! You're not going on that fucking tour...none of this is going to work! You're not going!" Shannon frowned.

"I'm not going on the tour but I'm not staying here either!" Laina sobbed, clutching her bags.

"Oh yeah, well just where the fuck do you think you're gonna go? Hmm? Where are you gonna go? What are you gonna do, live on the streets and play guitar!?" Shannon frowned frustratedly.

She thought she knew everything. Damn fucking teenagers.

"I don't know! Maybe I will! It'll be better then fucking living here, with you! I fucking hate you so much!" Laina frowned.

Hate.

Shannon winced when she said that, but he still frowned. She had said things to him like this before, but she didn't mean it. She was just trying to fuck with his head to get her way. Shannon wasn't stupid.

"Yeah yeah yeah, get your ass back to your room! Layne's gonna be so disappointed in your behavior!" Shannon pointed.

He wasn't taking her seriously. She wasn't gonna run away. She wasn't ready to be alone. Shannon knew his daughter well.

"Oh my fucking god. You don't have any faith in me at all do you? I fucking hate you so much dad...I hate you! You are the worst fucking dad ever!

You never let me do anything! You always have to be in control...god forbid anyone else fucking tries to be the boss! I don't know what the fuck I was thinking coming to you first about this! I should have just went with my original plan and asked Daddy Layne...then he would have actually helped me! I guess I just thought that maybe you would want to help me for a change since I've spent all my time training musically with Daddy Layne. You are just so fucking selfish! I hate you! I wish I had a mother! I wish I never came from your womb! Daddy Layne is so much better than you! I fucking hate you! Ugh I'm outta here!" Laina screamed, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

She was so angry that she picked up the potted plant that sat on a plant stand near the door and chucked it on the floor. It shattered and dirt was everywhere.

She flipped Shannon off before storming out of the house, slamming the door so hard that a few pictures near the front door fell off of the wall and tumbled to the floor.

Shannon stood there, watching the closed front door. He felt numb. He felt hurt. He didn't think she was actually gonna do it. He felt angry and upset at the same time. He was silent as his mind processed what had just happened.

He looked down at the mess.

Shannon slowly walked into the kitchen, grabbing a trashbag and a broom and dustpan. He walked back out to the living room and slowly started sweeping the mess up.

He dumped the mess inside of the trashbag. He took the bag outside to the garbage and sulked back into the house. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, looking around the house. It was big, quiet and empty.

Suddenly a ball of emotion forced it's way out of Shannon's throat and he put his hand to his forehead shakily as he started sobbing loudly, hot tears pouring down his face.

He quickly realized that this was a serious fight. The words that Laina threw at him...she had never spoken to him like that.

 

I hate you!

 

Shannon kept replaying it in his mind over and over.

 

I wish I had a mother! I wish I never came from your womb! Daddy Layne is so much better than you! I fucking hate you!

 

That hurt the most right there. She had no idea the scope of what Shannon went through with her. Everything Shannon had done, Shannon had done for her.

And she fucking hated him. Shannon had so many emotions running through his body. He was so hurt at her words. His head was officially mind fucked. Did Laina really hate him that much? Was he that much of a troll?

He had never really thought about it. He always thought he was doing what was best for his little girl.

He remembered when she was so sweet and innocent. Something happened and now she was moody and testy all the time, but it seemed like she only was like that towards Shannon. Why? Why did she hate him?

She didn't understand how hard Shannon had worked to build this life for their family. She was the most important thing in his life. She had never said anything before about wishing she had a mother. Shannon always thought she was so proud to have two fathers. He was so hurt by that thought.

He thought he was a good father.

She was being crazy.

Shannon tried to tell himself that she was just an angry teenager, that she didn't mean it. He knew she'd be back in a few days, wherever she was going. He was worried, angry and sad all at the same time.

Shannon finally moved, walking slowly up the stairs. He stopped at her room and looked inside of it briefly, before closing the door. He sobbed as he walked down to the bedroom he shared with Layne.

He was so upset as he closed the door behind him. His day was ruined. His daughter hated him. He couldn't stop thinking about the fight they had just had.

Shannon took his shirt and his pants off, crawling under the covers of the bed he shared with his husband. He buried his face into the pillow and sobbed.

This was a horrible shit storm. He couldn't help but take Laina's words to heart this time. She fucking hated him. He didn't want her to hate him.

He just didn't understand.


	2. Daddy Layne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Me and Laina got into an argument earlier and she left..." Shannon said softly, burning lump in his throat. "What? An argument? About what? Where did she go?" Layne said softly.

Layne was on his way home with the twins. He had left shortly before Laina got home from school to go watch the twins at soccer practice. The boys were sitting in the back of the SUV, dirty and sweaty from practice.

Layne smiled to himself as he drove, glancing at them in the rear view mirror every now and then.

"Sweeties, you both were very good out there on the field today. I'm so excited for your first game." Layne smiled.

"Dad! Quit calling us sweetie! Pleease!" Shayne groaned from the backseat.

"Yeah, call us buddy or something!" Zaine frowned.

Layne sighed, pursing his lips.

"But you boys will always be my sweeties...I just won't call you that around your friends...I'll call you my buddies in front of your friends, deal?" Layne smiled.

"I guess..." Shayne scrunched up his nose.

Layne chuckled and shook his head. The car ride was silent for a moment and Layne listened to his boys talk excitedly about the things that happened on the soccer field. He started thinking about Shannon and smiled to himself.

Suddenly in the midst of his thoughts he heard Zaine speak.

"Daddy...what's for dinner? I'm hungry!"

"Yeah, me too! What's daddy Shannon fixing?" Shayne spoke up.

Layne smirked.

"I'm not sure boys...just have some patience, we're almost home. I'm sure whatever it is it'll be good." Layne smiled.

He sighed and smiled to himself. His family was so perfect. He couldn't wait to go to the twin's first soccer game with Shannon. He was so proud of his boys making the team.

Before he knew it, he was pulling up in the driveway of the house. The boys quickly piled out of the car and ran up on the porch before Layne could even get out of the car. Layne looked in the yard and saw Shannon's Galaxie, but he didn't see Laina's car.

 

Wonder where Laina went?

 

Layne thought briefly to himself. His thoughts were interrupted by Shayne yelling.

"Daddy! The door's locked!"

Layne furrowed his brows, coming on the porch and fumbling with his key ring to get the house key.

"That's funny. I wonder if Shannon's off with Laina somewhere...he didn't call me or text me..." Layne talked to himself as he unlocked the door.

The boys ran in the house and up the stairs carelessly as Layne pushed the door open and walked in.

"Boys! Take your baths! Play rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes first, no fighting or arguing!" Layne called after them.

He put his keys on the key rack, closed the door and looked around. He walked into the kitchen and looked around. The stove wasn't on and everything was in it's place. Layne had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, like something wasn't right.

Shannon was usually fixing dinner around this time. If Shannon had somewhere to go, he usually gave Layne a call or a text. Layne hadn't had a call or a text from Shannon at any time.

Layne ran his fingers through his hair as he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He heard the shower running down the hall and he walked over to the twin's room and looked inside. Shayne was laying on the floor on his stomach, a textbook open on the floor, and scribbling on notebook paper furiously with a pen.

"Doing your homework sweetie?" Layne smiled.

"Yes." Shayne smiled, looking up at Layne.

"Good." Layne smiled.

He walked further down the hall and gently opened Laina's door and looked inside. She wasn't in her room. So she was gone. But where did she go?

Layne sighed and closed the door back, going down the hall. He didn't expect Shannon to be home. He opened the door to his bedroom and turned the light on and turned around.

His heart jumped when he saw a hump on the comforter that covered their bed. He closed the bedroom door behind him and walked over to the bed cautiously, looking down to see a big head full of messy, disheveled brown hair.

"Shannon?" Layne said softly, tugging the blanket down some off of his husband.

Layne sat on the bed, quickly removing his shoes and then he pulled the covers back, getting under them with Shannon and spooning him.

"Shanny? Wake up babe..." Layne said softly as his hands roamed Shannon's torso.

Layne pressed soft kisses to the tattoo that was on the back of Shannon's neck. Shannon started to stir, sighing.

Layne smiled brightly when Shannon turned around in his arms, facing him. Shannon looked really tired. Layne's smile faded when Shannon looked at him and he ran his a hand through Shannon's hair.

"Babe? Are you okay? You not feeling good? Tell me what's wrong? I know something's wrong...you haven't fixed dinner yet..." Layne said softly.

"I'm so glad you're home..." Shannon said softly, sliding closer to Layne and throwing an arm around him, pressing his forehead to Layne's and sighing.

"Are you not feeling good? Babe do you need anything?" Layne said softly.

"I don't need anything...and no I'm not feeling very good..." Shannon said softly, feeling a lump in his throat once again.

"Babe tell me what's wrong..." Layne said softly, kissing Shannon's lips.

Shannon avoided the question altogether.

"Are the boys home?"

"Yeah..." Layne said softly.

"Do you think you could fix them dinner? I'm not feeling up to it." Shannon said softly.

"Yeah...of course babe..." Layne said softly. "But you're not telling me what's wrong? I don't like it when you don't feel good."

Layne leaned in and kissed Shannon softly again, hand roaming up his body to tangle in his messy brown locks.

"Where's Laina?" Layne asked softly.

Shannon sighed, looking down.

"Layne, please go fix the boys dinner...and then I'll tell you about it when you're done." Shannon pouted.

Layne furrowed his brows.

"Babe, what's going on?"

"Me and Laina got into an argument earlier and she left..." Shannon said softly, burning lump in his throat.

"What? An argument? About what? Where did she go?" Layne said softly.

"I don't know...she just stormed out. She got really pissed at me. Layne just go fix the boys something to eat and I'll tell you about it after." Shannon pleaded.

"Alright, Alright..." Layne said softly, kissing Shannon.

Layne got up out of the bed and looked at Shannon, smiling softly at him before walking out of the room, making sure to close the door behind him.

He furrowed his brows as he walked downstairs and to the kitchen, thinking to himself. What in the world were those two arguing over now? Lately they had been butting heads alot.

Layne took out his cell phone, texting his daughter before he looked around the kitchen for something to fix.

 

Laina where the hell are you?

 

Layne sighed and looked in the fridge, deciding on something quick to eat because he wanted to know what was going on between his husband and his daughter.

* * *

Layne checked his phone as he made his way upstairs, a plate with a bottled water balancing on it with one hand. Laina had texted him back.

 

I'm at gramma's house.

 

He sighed, and was a bit relieved that she didn't do anything too drastic, like try to drive off and live on her own or something. He shoved his phone back in his pocket. He wouldn't bother her anymore. He would let her have some alone time at Shannon's mom's house to cool off.

Problem with that was, that most likely Shannon's mother knew what was going on now.

Layne made it to their bedroom and opened the door, coming in and smiling at Shannon, pushing the door closed with his foot. He walked over to the bed and set the bottled water on the nightstand.

Shannon was sitting up in bed, playing games on his smart phone. He looked up at Layne and smiled and put his phone down as Layne sat the plate down in his lap.

"Sandwiches?" Shannon smiled a little, chuckling to himself. "Layne that's just lazy."

Layne smiled, shrugging.

"Well now we're out of bread and cold cuts because the boys ate like, 3 sandwiches a piece...they can fucking eat!" Layne chuckled.

Shannon smiled and ate some of the chips on his plate, picking one of his sandwiches up and biting into it.

"I'm gonna shower and let you eat...then when I get back we can talk about what happened." Layne smiled.

Shannon smiled a little and nodded as he ate his dinner

* * *

It seemed like it took forever to finally get in the bed with Shannon to actually talk, but Layne was patient. Layne took his bath and brushed his teeth, and then Shannon decided to do the same thing.

While Shannon was in the bath, Layne took his empty plate downstairs and made sure the boys were done and had cleaned up and done their homework.

Once everything was right, Layne came back in the room and closed the door, joining Shannon on the bed. He sat beside him, sliding close to him and putting his arm around the small of Shannon's back.

Layne rested his head on Shannon's shoulder, pouting slightly.

"I sent Laina a text earlier, asking her where did she go, and she said she's at your mom's house." Layne said softly.

Shannon sighed, looking down and twiddling his thumbs.

"You should have heard the things she said to me today Layne. It was fucking awful." Shannon began.

"Babe...you know how teenagers are...what exactly was the fight about?" Layne asked softly, nuzzling his nose against Shannon's cheek.

"She wants to fucking go on tour with her little band. She was so adamant about it Layne. She thinks she can just drop everything, in the middle of a school year and go on tour. She doesn't understand how much work it is to put something like that together. She's too young and she thinks she knows everything." Shannon sighed, putting his hands over his face.

Layne wrapped his other arm around Shannon's front, pulling him into a hug.

"Babe...I can just see how you got hotheaded with her. She kept on begging you didn't she?" Layne said softly.

"Yeah. But she got really mad at me when I kept telling her no. She kept going on and on about how I don't have any faith in her, about how I treat her like a little child..." Shannon said, voice cracking.

"Shannon...you do..." Layne said softly.

"What?" Shannon asked, brows furrowed, looking at Layne.

"You do, kind of treat her like she's still a little girl. Shannon please don't get mad at me babe. I love you both so fucking much and I hate to see this riff between you two...but Shannon you kind of do...she's 16, nearly 17 babe...You've gotta start letting up a bit and giving her a bit of freedom." Layne sighed.

Shannon sat there silently, processing what Layne said.

"But she's growing up real fast...She's gonna fucking leave...when she graduates...I just know it. I don't want her to leave." Shannon said after a few minutes of silence, tears pouring down his cheeks.

He sniffled, wiping an eye with his palm. Layne's heart pooled with warmth. He tightened his grip on Shannon and kissed his cheek.

"Babe...I know you want her to stay little forever, but you gotta realize that she's gotta leave someday. She can't live with us forever...I know you love her so much. I'm real sorry you two are in this rift...she'll get over it in a few days, I promise. She fucking loves you. Shannon I agree with you though, she just can't drop out of school in the middle of a year to tour with her band. I wouldn't have let her do that either..." Layne said softly.

Shannon sniffled lightly, shoulders shaking as more tears fell.

"She, she claimed her bandmate's parents were "on board" with this. She said I was selfish for not letting her go."

"That's a fucking lie babe. She was just trying to convince you to say yes. You know how Laina gets." Layne said softly. "She'll talk some shit until she gets what she wants...she totally inherited that from you..."

Shannon smiled a little, laughing lightly, but his smile quickly faded again as he sniffled, looking down.

"I just, I just don't wanna see her go. She wants to do all of this shit already...and our family time is already limited...she's always off with that boyfriend of hers, always practicing with her band...and then before we know it, she'll be gone...her room will be empty. I'm gonna fucking miss her..." Shannon admitted, putting his face in his hands again.

"Babe...I know it hurts, but if she wants to go, you have to let her go. Your mom let you go when you left here for LA...remember? I'm pretty sure she was upset when you left and she didn't want you to go. It's just apart of growing up. You have to let the babies find themselves...we still have the boys for a few more years...

Aren't you excited about us getting to be alone? Once all of the kids are out the house...we can revert back to our feral ways..." Layne smirked, biting his lip.

Shannon sniffled, smiling a little.

"I guess that's one good thing about it...but I love the children...I love having them around. I'm scared I'll feel like, not accomplished or something when they're gone...I won't have a reason to do all of this shit anymore...everything I do, I did it for them..." Shannon sighed.

"Babe...you need to change your mindset...when the babies are all grown up and gone, starting their own lives...we'll be able to fucking party...of course, it'll be different this time...we'll be able to go on tour together...we'll be able to fuck whenever and wherever we want. I remember when you had your long hair back in the 90s...remember how fucking freaky we used to be...we can be freaks again..." Layne smirked, pressing his lips to Shannon's cheek in a soft kiss.

He laughed lightly, squeezing his husband tight. Shannon sniffled.

"Layne you're a fucking pervert." Shannon smiled.

"Oh don't sit there and act like you're so fucking conservative Shannon. You try to act like you're so conservative now...but I remember some of the dirty things you used to...and still, do." Layne smirked, nipping on the skin of Shannon's neck.

Shannon shrugged his shoulder and shivered.

"Cut it out Layne...I'm not in the mood right now..." Shannon smiled a little and looked down, pouting.

"Sorry babe. I just can't resist you...but about this Laina thing. Babe don't beat yourself up about this. She'll be back soon. It's good she went to Nel's. Both of you have time to cool off. But I do think we should let her go on tour-"

Shannon cut Layne off, furrowing his brows.

"No Layne!" Shannon frowned.

"Why? It's be so much fun. We can put it together for them and everything." Layne asked.

"Because..." Shannon frowned.

"Because what?" Layne smiled softly.

"What message would that send? We letting her go on a tour...that boyfriend of hers around her 24/7." Shannon said jealously.

Layne laughed lightly, ruffling Shannon's hair.

"Shanny...jesus christ you are so jealous...babe...Laina's a smart girl. You know she's on birth control. I know it's a hard pill for you to swallow. Eli really loves our daughter, and I think they're gonna be together for a while...Shanny he's a nice, respectable boy and you know it. Stop being this way. Just be happy for her. You can't stop them from doing what they're gonna do...you and I know that for a fact. It's better to accept it and embrace it then to avoid it and make it something awkward. It's only a part of life..." Layne smiled softly.

Shannon sighed, feeling tears forming again.

"She grew up too fast. I blinked my eyes and now we're here."

"My poor Shanny...I love you so fucking much, do you know that? You are the best husband and father ever...you love your children so much. There's so much fucking love in this house. Our children have had the best childhoods..." Layne smiled.

His words caused Shannon to bawl like a baby once again.

"Tell that to Laina...she doesn't get that..." Shannon sniffled, voice quivering.

"What? Of course she does." Layne assured Shannon.

"No. She doesn't. She said I was the worst dad ever. She said she hated me, like multiple times Layne." Shannon cried.

"You know she didn't mean it. She was just angry." Layne assured him.

"Layne she said she wished she had a mother...and that she wished she had never come from my womb..." Shannon exclaimed, sobbing hysterically, his hands over his face.

"Babe...shit...she said that for real?" Layne asked softly.

"Yeah...she fucking hates me. We're always fucking arguing...she never argues with you. She even said you're a better father than me. And I was thinking about it...and we do argue all the time anymore...I can't remember the last time we laughed together. I don't know why she fucking hates me.

All I ever did was try to give her a good life, full of love. I fucking love her...she was the reason I turned my fucking life around...I struggled with her before you came back into my life...I was so depressed and fucked up in the head and on drugs...I wish she could fucking understand. She fucking saved me...and she fucking tells me she wishes she didn't come from me and that she wishes she had a mom..."

Shannon was so upset by this point.

"Babe...I honestly don't think she meant it...and babe...you gotta stop fighting her on everything. She just wants some acceptance from you. I know you're paranoid about everything, after all the shit that we went through...I know you just want to make sure she's okay and gets through this life fine...and she will babe. She's a smart girl. We've raised her right. She wouldn't do anything to take the road that we took...she knows what we went through, how the drugs and shit nearly tore our family apart...how we both at some point in our lives nearly died because of it...babe. I'm so fucking sorry she said that to you...and I wish you wouldn't take it hard like this.

She'll be back in a few days and things will be back to normal. You two really should talk though. I wish I could fix this, but you two need to talk. Shannon you wrote that song, "Change" for Blind Melon...remember? Babe you gotta go by your own words...you can't sit in one place forever. You gotta be open to change baby. Laina's changed...for the good though, not for the worst...and you need to accept that baby. She's not a little girl anymore. You need to stop trying to fight her on everything. A small summer tour for her band sounds like a good idea, don't you think? She won't miss school and she can get a taste of how it is to really play with a band. It's hard work."

Shannon sniffled, wiping his eyes. He reached over on his nightstand, grabbing a tissue and blowing his nose.

"I know Layne. I know you're right, about everything. I just don't want to. I just don't want to let her go. It hurts so much. I love being the one they depend on..." Shannon sniffled.

"Babe...I know you do. You'll be okay, I promise. I want you to feel better...once you and Laina talk I'm sure you'll feel so much better...I fucking hate when you two fight and argue...meanwhile...I still depend on you." Layne smiled softly.

"What?" Shannon sniffled.

"I still depend on you...I need you...without you I can't do anything right...you always set me straight..." Layne smirked, caressing Shannon's skin with his fingers.

"Layne..." Shannon sniffled and smiled, trying to push him away.

"Why don't I suck all of your problems away babe? Just let me make you feel better...things will be sorted out in a few days...stop fucking crying, you know that fucking hurts me so much...I'll just suck everything away...you can release in my mouth...then relax..." Layne whispered in Shannon's ear, flicking his earlobe with his tongue.

Shannon shivered, shrugging his shoulder.

"Layne...god damn you...fucking pervert..." Shannon smirked.

Layne bit his lip, his hand slowly falling to Shannon's crotch, palming it.

"You're already halfway there...I'll suck all of the stress out of you...just take these off..." Layne smiled, tugging on Shannon's underwear.

"You know what you fucking do to me..." Shannon sniffled and sighed, smirking and complying with Layne's demands.

"Just relax and let me take care of you...daddy..." Layne whispered moving on the bed and gripping Shannon's hips tightly as his head moved between Shannon's legs.

Shannon's problems were forgotten for that moment as Layne preceded to make him feel better.


	3. Distant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Laina! You're back...sweetie please don't go off like this anymore...we missed you so much!" Layne exclaimed, embracing her.

Laina had went to the only place she could think of to get away from her house for a while, gramma Nel's. Nel was so excited to have her grand daughter over. Laina had told her some bullshit story about how she just needed to stay with a woman for a while...she made up some bullshit story about how she was having issues with her boyfriend and she needed advice. She was really good at telling stories...a trait she had learned over the years from Shannon.

Nel was so excited to give her granddaughter advice and she had no idea how pissed off Laina was at her father.

Laina stayed over at Nel's for the rest of the week, until the weekend, vaguely communicating with her father Layne through text messages. Layne wanted her to come home but Laina insisted that she needed more time away. She hadn't spoken to her brothers or to her fathers for nearly 3 days. That was the longest time she had ever been away from her family.

It felt weird to go to school and go to Nel's instead of home. Nel was a great gramma but she had weird habits. Laina was used to things going a certain way when she got home. Towards the end of her stay with Nel, the more she thought about it, the more she missed home.

She was pissed off that Daddy Shannon said she couldn't tour. She was definitely going to talk to Daddy Layne about it, and Daddy Layne would talk to Shannon and convince him to let her do this.

She and her boys were ready. They were playing so good together and they had been playing gigs around town on the weekends. Laina was ready to take this to the next level. She knew with all her heart that she wanted to be a rockstar, just like her dads.

She also had alot of time to think about how she had approached this thing. She had tried to hand a bunch of shit to Shannon, to get him to get on board with this thing. She should have known not to go to him first. Maybe he was right though, she couldn't just drop out of school to go on tour...her boyfriend and other guys couldn't either. She did not know why she had insisted on that. If she would have presented it slightly differently to daddy, maybe he would have let up. It just pissed her off so bad when Shannon told her no right from the start. Shannon always told her no, it was as if he didn't want to let her have any freedom and it pissed her off.

She kind of missed him though, even though he could be a total butt most of the time. She missed seeing her dads laugh together and seeing her little brothers run around and do dumb things to piss Shannon off. Layne was always so laid back and Shannon was so hotheaded.

She honestly missed hugging her daddy. She was still a little pissed at him but she was kind of homesick. She figured Shannon had to be over this fight by now...she was a teen and it was normal for teens to scream things at their parents that they didn't mean.

Shannon would be alright. They would just start talking again and things would be back to normal...just like it went down after every argument.

Shannon would be glad to see her, he would rush up to her and hug her and apologize and she would too and that would be that...life would go on.

Laina decided to go back home on Saturday.

* * *

Laina pulled up in the yard on Saturday around noon. She sighed, gathering all of her things and getting out of her car, going on the porch and hesitating before turning the doorknob. The door was unlocked and she walked right in the house, looking around.

She dropped her things at the door and looked around.

"Hello!? I'm back! Daddy!?" She called, looking around.

She sighed and grabbed her things and made her way upstairs to her room. The house was quiet. She wondered where everyone was. She made it to her room and dropped her things, falling onto her bed and sighing, relaxing. Her bed smelled so good. It felt good to be home, in her comfort zone.

She rolled over on her bed, her boots hanging off the edge and sighed. She laid there for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling. It was silent for a while until she thought she heard laughing and noise coming from outside.

Laina got up and went over to her bedroom window. She could see down in the backyard through her window. She looked out of it to see her brothers running around the yard, kicking a soccer ball around.

Laina's heart jumped, so they were home! She got up and nearly ran downstairs and through the kitchen, standing in front of the sliding glass door, looking out onto the patio. She could see the back of her dad's heads as they were both laid out in patio chairs that were on the back porch, holding hands.

Laina opened the sliding glass door and walked out onto the patio, closing the door behind her.

"Daddies..." She smiled.

Layne looked back and Shannon did too, briefly. Before Laina knew it, Layne had jumped up from his patio chair, nearly tackling Laina as he hugged her tight.

"Laina! You're back...sweetie please don't go off like this anymore...we missed you so much!" Layne exclaimed, embracing her.

"I'm sorry daddy..." Laina pouted.

"It's alright...I'm glad you're back..." Layne smiled, kissing her forehead softly.

As they were embracing, the twins noticed their sister was back and they took off running fast onto the patio.

"Laina!" Shayne screamed.

Zaine squealed as the twins nearly intercepted her from Layne as they wrapped their arms around her in a group hug.

"Hey guys..." She smiled, laughing lightly.

"We missed you! Why'd you stay at grammas for so long!?" Zaine asked, looking up at her.

"Er...just needed some girl time...I'm surrounded by all you boys." Laina lied and smiled.

"Oh....Laina! Look at all the neat tricks we learned at soccer practice! Watch us!" Shayne begged, tugging on her shirt.

"Alright alright..." Laina smiled.

Layne smiled as he watched his children. He sighed, squeezing Laina's shoulder lightly before running off behind the boys as they ran into the yard.

"Do you sweeties need a third person?" Layne smiled.

"Dad we're not sweeties! We're buds!" Shayne groaned.

"I'm sorry...buds..." Layne smirked.

They started kicking the ball around and meanwhile, it was just Laina and Shannon on the patio. Shannon was silent as he watched his boys, laughing lightly to himself.

Laina swallowed hard, looking down, pouting slightly. She slowly made her way to the patio chair that Layne had been vacating previously and sat down on the edge of it, her knees pulled to her chest. She stared out at the yard, watching as Layne kicked the soccer ball to Zaine and Zaine kicked it to Shayne.

She wiggled her nose, looking down, sighing, waiting for Shannon to say something. After a few minutes of silence, Laina was about to look back at Shannon but Zaine screamed her name.

"Laina! Watch this!"

Laina looked on to see Zaine kicking the soccer ball with his feet, keeping it off of the ground for nearly 10 minutes straight. He then kicked it to Shayne who did the same thing.

Laina laughed to herself, calling out to them.

"You little brats have really got a knack for that!" She smiled.

"Laina...their not brats...all of the time!" Layne smirked, putting his hands on his hips and playfully sticking his tongue out at her.

Layne preceded to learn how to do the kick thing with his feet, to keep the ball off of the ground as the boys talked him through it. He was really clumsy with his long legs.

Laina was a bit concerned. Daddy Shannon was really silent. She hadn't heard him laugh at all through this. Usually he laughed when she joked with her brothers. Laina ran her hand through her straight blonde hair and slowly looked back at Shannon, her hand on her chin.

Shannon was looking down at a magazine, eyes moving back and forth as he read it. He sniffled, wiping his nose briefly before turning a page.

Laina watched him for a few minutes and didn't think he was gonna look up, but he finally did, catching her staring. He looked at her for a split second, not saying anything, facial expression devoid of any emotion.

"Hey daddy." Laina said softly.

"Hey." Shannon said back, looking back down at his magazine.

Things quickly became awkward.

"I'm back..." Laina blurted, laughing nervously.

Shannon glanced back up at her, smiling briefly, squinting his eyes at her, before they darted back down to his magazine.

Laina looked back out at the yard, pouting. Shannon was unusually quiet. It was weird. She didn't get it.

Eventually Laina got up to go in the house and take a shower and take a nap. She was feeling a bit exhausted. She touched Shannon's shoulder as she walked by and he didn't react at all.

Usually he would touch her hand or pull her back for a hug or something.

Laina sighed as she made her way upstairs and back to her room.

* * *

Laina woke up later from her nap and the weirdness continued. She woke up just in time for dinner. She could smell the food through out the house. She made her way downstairs and the twins were sitting on the couch, playing their gameboys.

"Hey guys...playing pokemon?" Laina smiled, coming up to them and ruffling their hair at the same time.

A fit of giggles erupted from them.

"Yes." They said at the same time.

"Laina get your gameboy and play with us!" Shayne begged.

"Maybe in a little while. I haven't played in a while, my pokemons are not very strong." Laina smiled.

"So. We can transfer rare candies to you. We have an infinite amount." Zaine spoke up.

"I'll go get it in a few minutes." Laina laughed lightly.

She then turned her back and made her way into the kitchen, standing in the threshold and looking in to see her dads.

Shannon was standing over the stove sauteing something and Layne had his arms wrapped around Shannon from behind, kissing his cheek continually, whispering to him and making Shannon laugh lightly.

Laina smiled to herself. Her dads were so in love. She had seen some pretty wicked arguments at her friend's houses between their parents, in front of her, the guests, but her dads hardly ever fought. They were so perfect.

She walked into the kitchen and spoke.

"Hey daddies!" She smiled.

Layne jumped slightly, looking back at Laina and smiled excitedly, pulling away from Shannon and rushing over to her.

"Hey sweetie! Did you take a nap?" Layne asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"Yeah...I was kinda tired..." Laina said, smile fading as she looked over Layne's shoulder as she hugged him.

Shannon continued to cook over the stove, not even looking over at them or smiling. Laina closed her eyes as Layne hugged her.

"Anything neat happen at school this week?" Layne asked nonchalantly as he kept his arm around her, totally avoiding the fact that she hadn't been home in nearly 3 days.

"Um...not really. Same old stuff, lots of homework." Laina smiled.

They walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. Layne looked at his daughter lovingly, putting her hair behind her ear and squeezing her shoulder.

Laina continued to stare over at Daddy Shannon, who appeared oblivious to them.

"Shannon tells me you and your band wanna tour honey." Layne said rather loudly.

Laina raised a brow, looking from Layne and over to Shannon, who never looked over, but continued cooking.

"Um...yeah...we'd like to do that actually." Laina said slowly, hesitantly.

"Sweetie we can make that happen for you guys if you really want it...but you guys have to really be serious if we're gonna go through with this. I'll need to meet with all of you and I'm thinking on the weekends sometime, we could use Shannon's studio when no one's there and get you guys a new, better quality demo to pass out at the shows.

I can see it now...but we have to make sure every one is on board 100 percent before I do the work to make this happen. And I'm thinking it could be in the summer, maybe one month of touring...a short tour...a few cities...maybe some in Washington state and Cali...some here...you're not dropping out of school right now to do this.

We can make it happen but not during the school year sweetie." Layne replied, smiling warmly at her.

Laina's eyes widened. She looked from Layne to Shannon, who was still not looking.

"Daddy...oh my god? Really!?" Laina exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes sweetie...I'm so proud of you...the musical talent runs in the family. I love watching your band live." Layne smiled.

"Thanks daddy! I'll tell the boys as soon as possible so we can all get together and discuss this with their parents and them and everything!" Laina smiled excitedly, leaning over and hugging Layne.

Layne was the coolest dad ever! Layne could make shit happen! Layne was so open minded!

Laina looked over Layne's shoulder at Daddy Shannon. Shannon's brows were furrowed slightly and she could have sworn she saw him glance over out of the corner of his eye before scraping the finished food onto plates and then putting the pan in the dishwashwer and checking something inside of the oven of the stove.

"Shannon agrees this is the best way to go about this...right baby?" Layne called, squeezing Laina tight as they continued to hug.

"Uh huh." Shannon mumbled, taking a casserole out of the oven and setting it on top of the stove.

Laina pulled away, forcing her smile as she continued to look at Daddy Layne. Daddy Shannon didn't seem so enthusiastic.

"It'll be great." Layne smiled, running his hand down her hair and touching her shoulder.

Laina smiled.

* * *

That night when dinner was ready, Shannon called the boys in to the kitchen. Laina sat and watched as Shannon set their plates at the table and gave them each a kiss to their temple. Laina thought for a second that Shannon was going to get her plate and set it down and give her a kiss as well, like he normally did, but to her surprise, Shannon didn't.

She watched, brows slightly furrowed as Shannon went back over to the counter, standing beside Layne and kissing him, before grabbing one plate and coming back to the table and sitting down at his place, looking down at his plate and beginning to eat, looking over at the boys and smiling, laughing lightly with them.

Laina was watching him, nearly scoffing. It was as if he didn't even notice her! She slowly got up, coming over to the counter and grabbing her plate that Shannon had made for her. She looked at Layne as Layne was putting extra sides on his plate.

Layne smiled warmly at her, raising his brows.

"Looks real good...chef daddy cooked to perfection...as always." Layne smiled.

Laina forced a smile and slowly sat at the table, eating slowly and looking over at Shannon every now and then. Shannon would converse and laugh with the boys, but he wasn't saying anything to her.

At one point Layne even joined their conversation and everyone was laughing except for Laina. Laina was confused and wanted to know why Shannon was practically ignoring her. She thought she was his little girl. He was barely speaking to her and that hurt.

When it got silent again, Laina spoke up again.

"So, my band, we wanna do a Blind Melon cover." Laina replied, looking over at Shannon, waiting for him to finally say something to her.

Shannon glanced up at her with a half smile before looking back down at his plate, shoving food into his mouth.

"Honey that's so wonderful! Oh that'd be so cute!" Layne replied excitedly with much enthusiasm.

Did he not feel the tension in the room? Did he not see Daddy Shannon ignoring his only daughter!?

"What song are you thinking of covering sweetie?" Layne asked, smiling warmly at his daughter.

Laina looked back and forth from Layne to Shannon.

"I was thinking Seed To A Tree...I really like the lyrics to that song." Laina replied.

Shannon was looking at the twins, smiling, appearing to not pay attention to Laina.

"That just sounds wonderful. Maybe Shannon can help you with the chords or something." Layne smiled. "Isn't that right Shanny?"

Shannon glanced over at Layne and smiled.

"Oh, sure sure...yeah." He said quickly, looking back down at his plate, continuing to eat.

"Daddy will help." Layne smiled.

Laina slumped back in her seat and sighed, moving her food around on her plate.

The rest of the dinner went by quietly, Shannon not saying a word to her. Laina sat at the table still as the boys got up and Layne got up and left out of the room. Shannon had gathered everyone's dishes except hers. Laina watched, a burning feeling in her chest as Shannon quietly began to load the dishwasher.

Laina frowned, bottom lip quivering. She stood up, picking up her plate and empty cup, walking over to Shannon quietly.

"Daddy?" She asked softly as she stood there.

Shannon was bent down, putting things in the dishwasher. When he heard his name being called, he looked back, still bent over. He leaned up and took the dishes out of her hand.

"Thanks." He replied.

Laina stood there, watching as Shannon put them in the dishwasher.

"Daddy...do you need any help cleaning up the kitchen?" Laina asked softly.

Shannon stood up again, opening a cabinet and taking out a cascade packet and putting it in the dishwasher, closing the door and locking it and started the cycle. He didn't even face her as he went through the cabinet again to get antibacterial wipes out to wipe the counter off with.

"No thanks. I got it." He replied.

"Oh. Okay." Laina said softly, looking down.

She held her elbow as she turned around and sulked out of the kitchen, going up to her room. She wasn't really feeling up to playing the game with her brothers.

Daddy Shannon was ignoring her. He wasn't supposed to do that. He was her daddy. He was supposed to love her, no matter what she said to him. It was hurting her feelings. He wasn't treating her the way he usually treated her.

She stayed in her room, playing on her computer and watching TV.

Way later, Laina heard Shannon walking down the hall. She got up and quietly opened the door to her room, peeking out to see Shannon walking up to the twin's door and knocking softly before pushing the door open and leaning in their room.

Laina listened to him talk.

"When are you guys going to sleep?...Okay...just don't sit up too late. I'm tired, I'm going to bed....night boys...love you...see you tomorrow."

Laina opened her door all the way now, standing in her doorway and watching as Shannon closed the door to the twin's room, walking further down the hall to his bedroom, disappearing inside, shutting the door behind him.

Laina stood there, feeling a lump form in her throat. Daddy always said good night to her before he went to bed. Daddy had walked right past her room, and to her brother's room, telling them good night and that he loved them and he just skipped over her. He went to his room and never told her good night.

Laina went back in her room and slammed her door closed, hoping maybe that would somehow piss daddy Shannon off and he would come down to her room and see her upset.

She laid on her bed, all of the emotion that she had been suppressing all day out. She sobbed into her pillow. Daddy Shannon was ignoring her and it hurt.

He wasn't supposed to do this. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He always spoke to her first after their arguments. He was the parent, that was how it was always supposed to go down!

Laina cried for a while and then eventually fell asleep.

* * *

That Sunday was no better. Shannon continued to be distant with her and ignore her. Laina was very upset.

She just wanted things to be the way they were before...her being her daddy's top priority. Daddy always trying to keep up with her. She missed his hugs and his kisses. Sure she was nearly grown, but she would always love getting hugs and kisses from Daddy Shannon.

It hurt her feelings that he was acting this way towards her and she didn't know what to do.


	4. Boiled Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before she went to her class, she sent Shannon a text message, in an attempt to finally break his silence. _I'm sorry Daddy. I love you._

Monday morning, everyone was up early. The kids had school and Shannon had work to do at his recording studio. By the time Laina came downstairs for breakfast, Shannon had already left for the day. She felt like she would cry again. The twins were already at the table, eating bowls of cereal. Layne was emptying the dishwasher.

He smiled warmly when he noticed that Laina had walked into the kitchen.

"Morning Laina...how'd you sleep?" Layne smiled.

"Ok I guess." Laina sighed, preceding to make herself a quick bowl of cereal before school.

Layne furrowed his brows, noticing that she was acting kind of strange...that she wasn't as bubbly as she usually was.

"Everything alright this morning sweetie?" Layne asked, brows furrowed.

Laina sighed as she poured milk into her cereal bowl, putting it back into the fridge. She stood there, eating her cereal at the counter.

"Yeah I'm fine daddy. Where's daddy Shannon?" She asked, looking over at Layne as she ate.

"Oh...he had to get going. He's really busy with work today sweetie." Layne smiled warmly.

"But...but he didn't even say good bye to me..." Laina said softly, feeling a burning feeling in her throat like she would cry.

"Aw sweetie...I'm sorry...he had to go...just send him a text...he'll respond back when he can." Layne smiled softly, leaning over and kissing Laina on the cheek.

Laina smiled, looking down and sighing as she finished off her cereal.

Before she knew it, she was taking her little brothers to school and then she was on her way to school.

Before she went to her class, she sent Shannon a text message, in an attempt to finally break his silence.

__  
I'm sorry Daddy. I love you.  


She sighed and before she knew it, her boyfriend Eli and other bandmates were surrounding her. They were all smiles and chill, but she just couldn't feel chill. She would only feel at ease when she knew things were back to normal and Shannon was speaking to her again.

* * *

The school day was nearly halfway over. Laina was really distant that day. She was obsessing over this thing. She couldn't stand for her father to ignore her. She knew she must have really pissed him off and she was frustrated and upset that he had really took this last argument they had to heart.

Every time her phone vibrated, she would quickly check it, hoping it was Shannon but it wasn't, it was just game notifications or e-mails.

By lunch period, she was getting antsy. She was beginning to think that Shannon had ignored her text. Why would he do such a thing? She apologized. She said she loved him. He was her father! Why was he acting like this!? She just wanted things to be back to normal.

She abandoned her friends during lunch and walked around the school aimlessly, debating to herself. It didn't take long for her to decide, fuck it.

She was gonna go to Daddy Shannon's work and make him talk to her! He couldn't keep doing this. It wasn't fair and it was stupid. She couldn't even hardly remember what was said between the two at this point anyway. It was just a stupid fight and it was over.

She went to her locker and threw her books in carelessly and grabbed her keys, slamming the locker shut and locking it. She looked around, and walked right out of the school and around to the student parking lot, quickly jumping in her car and starting it and leaving.

Fuck it. She needed to see Daddy to sort this shit out.

* * *

Laina found herself sitting in her car, in the parking lot of Daddy Shannon's record studio. She sighed shakily, feeling an anxious feeling pumping through her veins. How would he react? He went totally ape shit about skipping school. She had done it one time before and Shannon had found out and blew up. Would he be pissed with her?

Well at least if he was pissed at her, he would be fussing at her and he would be talking to her again.

Maybe he would ground her and make her help him with chores and they could spend time together and talk then.

Laina laughed to herself lightly as she thought about it. Her smile quickly faded. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes.

She put her hand to her face and sobbed lightly, feeling the warm moisture flow down her cheeks. She sniffled, sighing and getting out of her car.

Daddy hadn't answered her text and that really hurt. She could just imagine him looking at it and then throwing his phone back on the table, ignoring it.

Laina sniffled, trying to compose herself. She walked up to the entrance of the studio and walked right on in. She walked past the receptionist, who didn't notice her anyway as she sat there popping gum and reading a magazine.

Laina wasn't sure if any of Daddy's employees, except Rodney, knew she was Shannon's daughter.

Laina held onto her necklace as she made her way through the studio, heading straight for Shannon's office. She had been here plenty of times, so she knew the way.

She had been to work with Daddy before, seeing him produce a band, working with them, talking shit to them, being a boss.

She wanted to be assertive just like daddy. And with her band, she was; She was the head bitch.

Laina finally came up to Shannon's office door. There was a window on the door but it was covered from the inside with a closed blind. She couldn't see through it. She stood there, looking at the golden letter name plate that was on the door.

 

Shannon Hoon

 

That was her daddy. She smiled a little, sighing shakily. She could hear loud laughing from inside of his office. She put her ear to the door.

She could barely make out Shannon's muffled voice, laughing and talking to someone on the other side of the door. She frowned slightly.

He sounded as if he was having a good time. How could he be acting this way when she was obviously fucking miserable? Had he even noticed?

Was he even worried about her at all when she had stayed at gramma's for a few days? He was acting as if he didn't even care!

Once again Laina's emotions boiled over and she sniffled, not being able to control the tears that started falling down her cheeks. She suddenly reached her hand out, wrapping it around the doorknob.

She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open quickly, letting out a loud sob as she walked into Shannon's office.

Shannon was sitting at his desk, leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head, laughing and talking with Rodney, who was sitting on the other side of his desk in another chair.

When Laina stormed in, both men got silent, looking over at her, startled.

Laina sobbed loudly as she burst through the door, standing in the doorway, looking over at Shannon.

"Daddy!" She sobbed, frowning and sniffling, an absolute hot mess.

Shannon's breath nearly caught in his throat when he saw Laina standing there, crying hysterically, face red and wet with tears.

"Laina?" Shannon asked, standing up, brows furrowed.

Rodney felt awkward as he sat there, looking from Laina to Shannon. He slowly got up, looking down at the ground and slipped out of the office, closing the door behind him.

"Laina? Laina honey what's wrong!?" Shannon exclaimed, running over to his daughter and wrapping his arms around her.

He seriously thought something was wrong. What was she doing here, during school hours, upset like this? Shannon's heart rate picked up.

Laina couldn't muster any words, all she could do was enjoy her father's embrace, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and burying her face in his chest. He always wore the same cologne, ever since she could remember and it always made her feel safe and loved when she smelled it. That was her daddy's signature smell. She sobbed against him and Shannon held her tight.

"Baby...what's going on? Come on, let's go sit on the couch..." Shannon said softly, leading his emotional daughter to the black leather couch that was situated in the corner of his office.

They sat on the couch and Laina held onto Shannon with the jaws of life.

Shannon kept his arms wrapped around her, pressing his head against hers.

Laina hadn't hugged her father in days. It felt good to embrace him again. Shannon kissed the top of her head and held onto her, rocking her gently. He waited patiently for her to speak.

She sniffled, calming down after a few minutes, and sat up, still close to Shannon, their legs touching, her leaning into him. He kept his arm wrapped around her, his hand on her shoulder.

"Daddy why have you been ignoring me? I sent you a text message...why did you ignore it?" Laina began, face scrunching up and tears pouring down her face again.

"You sent me a message? Sweetheart...I left my phone in the Galaxie...I haven't been out there to get it from my car. I didn't get the text, honest...I wouldn't ignore a text from you..." Shannon said softly. "What did it say?" He asked softly.

"I just said that I'm sorry, and...and I love you..." Laina sniffled, looking down at her hands that she had intertwined in her lap.

"Why have you been ignoring me Daddy? You've been ignoring me and I don't like it..." Laina cried softly, putting her hands to her face.

Shannon sighed, brows furrowed. He felt a stinging feeling in his chest. He wasn't ignoring her...he was just trying to give her a little distance. He wasn't sure how to approach her anymore after the talk he and Layne had.

Shannon was only trying to treat her more like an adult. Adults didn't like their parents hugging and kissing on them and calling them "sweetie" or "honey"? Right? Shannon felt horrible now.

This whole thing was horrible.

"Laina please don't cry...I love you too..I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to ignore you baby...I just thought...I don't know what I thought...I mean...I'm only trying to treat you like an adult...I just didn't know how to approach you I guess...I'm really sorry baby...you're just so grown up now...you just changed so much...and it's hard for me to keep up with you. I love you so much baby girl. I'm really sorry I made you feel that way...I mean, I was just trying to treat you more like a grown up...like you wanted...you said you were tired of me treating you like a little kid..." Shannon sighed.

"But daddy...I didn't mean ignore me like that...I still want you to hug me in front of my friends, I still want you to treat me like you've been treating me...I just meant that you need to let me do things you know...like the tour...daddy, I'm sorry about the whole stupid argument..." Laina sniffled.

"Baby...I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I just told you no from the beginning...we could have talked about it and worked it out...daddy Layne's so good with that stuff...he's the one that came up with the summer thing...I'm just...I don't know...I'm trying to work on being more patient...you're growing up so fast Laina...I just don't wanna see you go I guess. I'm selfish..." Shannon smiled softly, running his hand through Laina's hair.

"Daddy...you're my best friend...I love you...I would never leave you...no matter where I go I'll always call you and stuff..." Laina smiled, nuzzling into Shannon's chest and smiling, sniffling.

Shannon smiled to himself too, feeling a little better. He ran his hand through her hair and they sat there in silence for a moment before he spoke again.

"Baby...something has been really bothering me about the other day." Shannon said softly.

"What daddy?" Laina asked, looking at him.

Shannon's eyes teared up now. He became choked up as he started talking.

"The other day, during our argument, when you said you wished you had a mom...and that you didn't come from me...did you really mean that?"

Shannon felt stupid for asking...but he just needed to hear her say it. It had really been eating away at him. He couldn't get it out of his head, when she said that to him. It really hurt him.

"No daddy...hell no. I was just mad. I was just trying to piss you off because you pissed me off...no daddy I'm proud that I came from you...Daddy I'm so sorry I said that..." Laina pouted.

Shannon put his hand to his forehead as he cried softly.

"I'm sorry...it just really hurt my feelings...given what I've been through and all..." Shannon's voice came out raspy and high pitched.

"Daddy I'm sorry. I love you so much and I didn't mean to upset you. I love having you as a daddy. You're the best daddy ever, you're never a bad daddy...I was just really mad...I didn't mean it...honest daddy!" Laina pouted, hugging Shannon.

Laina got up and sat in Shannon's lap, her long legs stretched out along the couch. Shannon held her close to him as he buried his face into her hair, composing himself.

He felt better after she said that. He knew she didn't mean it, but he just needed her to say so, for that extra assurance.

"Are we okay now daddy? This is over right?" Laina asked softly.

Shannon sniffled, lifting his head and smiling down at her as he held her.

"Yeah baby girl...this is over. I never wanna fight like this ever again." He smiled softly at her.

"We won't daddy...we won't..." Laina sighed, hugging her daddy.

They sat there on the couch, Laina still sitting in Shannon's lap and Shannon holding her, just embracing each other. It was as if the two had a new found understanding of each other. They both knew that things would be different after this.

Things were out in the open and they both understood each other a little better. They may not have said it out loud, but Shannon was open to giving his daughter a little bit more of this "freedom", even though he didn't want to. Laina had learned to appreciate her daddy a little more. She would never say she hated him ever again. She hadn't realized how much it had upset Shannon, and he was right. She shouldn't be speaking to him that way. He had done so much for his family.

They were sitting there hugging when all of a sudden, Shannon's office door swung open and some random band buy busted up in the office.

"Shannon, hey-" He began, but then he looked up at the producer to see an attractive blonde sitting in the man's lap and Shannon's hands wrapped around him.

"Jesus, Eric! Fucking knock man! You scared the fucking shit out of me!" Shannon exclaimed at the singer.

"Oh, sorry...uh I just came in to tell you that we're uh...ready...hey man I didn't know you had a girlfriend...listen this is very awkward...sorry I'll just come back later..." Eric stammered.

Shannon furrowed his brows and Laina did to. It didn't take long to realize why the singer was confused. Laina continued to look over at the man who was slowly backing out of the office with furrowed brows.

Shannon spoke up quickly.

"What? Hey man this ain't my girlfriend, this is my fucking daughter man. This is my daughter Laina!" Shannon frowned and then smirked.

"Oh uh...sorry..." Eric stammered, closing the office door and walking away.

Once he was gone, Shannon and Laina looked at each other and burst out laughing together. It felt good to have a laugh. Laina moved and got off of Shannon's lap and sat beside him once again, holding his hand.

"What a fuckin' tart..." Shannon sighed, smiling at his daughter. "He's the singer for this band, Tattered Treasures. Their working on a record..." Shannon explained. "He's really a fuckin' character."

Laina giggled, frowning slightly. "Tattered Treasures? What a silly band name Daddy!"

"I know...oh god...but they're music's pretty tight though." Shannon whispered then smiled.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Laina asked, smiling.

"Yeah, why?" Shannon smiled, furrowing his brows slightly.

"Because...you haven't said anything about the fact that i walked out of school in the middle of the day to come down here." Laina smiled softly.

Shannon smiled.

"Well I'm actually sort of glad you came here...I'm not mad about that...I'm sorry i didn't have my phone on me. Don't worry baby, I'll write you a note for tomorrow. I'll make up something. And you know what, this worked out for the best, because I'm kind of hungry...and Rodney finally has his master's degree so I can trust him working alone." Shannon replied.

Laina smiled. She and Shannon were talking a lot. She had never heard daddy being so...chill.

"I'm kind of hungry too." Laina smiled.

"Wanna go to the Fun Zone?" Shannon said softly, smiling.

"The Fun Zone? What daddy?" Laina giggled, furrowing her brows. "Why?"

"I don't know...you used to love going there when you were little...I really love it...even though it's a rugrat farm...I just love the place...great family place...I miss taking you guys there and watching you win tickets and eat pizza...those were some good times..." Shannon smiled, reminiscing.

"Of course we can go to the Fun Zone daddy." Laina smiled.

"Let's go." Shannon smiled, letting go of her hand and standing up.

* * *

The rift between Shannon and Laina was officially over. The two piled into Laina's car. Shannon wasn't nagging like he usually was when he rode in the car with her. He usually would critique every aspect of her driving, but today, he was sitting back and relaxing and listening to the music blaring from her speakers.

They made it to the Fun Zone, where they hung out, talked, ate pizza and played games, winning massive amounts of tickets and passing them around to the little kids that were there.


	5. Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey merch boy." Layne smirked, wrapping his arms around Shannon's lower back, pulling him to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> use the band Japanese Voyeurs as Laina's band. The singer Romily is exactly how I imagine Laina to look in my head. Also I'm not very good with coming up with good band names so I will just use Japanese Voyeurs. Use your imagination ok lol. Pretend Romily is Laina lol. Saves me alot of time don't have to make up band names and song lyrics lol im better at writing fanfiction than that lol

_Months Later_

Everything had come together perfectly. Layne had met with Laina's band. Everyone was on board with this and everyone's parents gave them permission to go. The kids went into Shannon's studio over the weekends when they didn't have too much homework and recorded songs for a new demo.

Layne and Shannon paid for everything. They didn't mind, they wanted their daughter to succeed. Layne meanwhile worked on PR, on the social networks and stuff for his daughter.

He had sort of fell into the roll of their manager. He and Shannon had accidentally started a record label when Shannon let Laina's band use his studio. Shannon didn't know why he didn't think of doing that before.

Layne had put the tour together, doing all of the hard work. On the road for a month was good enough for the kids to get a taste of being in a band for real. They had 4 gigs, one in Indianapolis, one in Huntington Beach and two in Seattle.

Laina wanted Shannon to go so bad. Shannon let Rodney run shit at the studio while he was on the road with Laina, Layne and the guys. Shannon would serve as the merch guy and part time driver when Layne needed to rest. They had rented a nice touring van and U Haul to carry their instruments and stacks. Shannon had booked all of the hotel rooms. Everything was set, thanks to Shannon and Layne.

The twins were staying with gramma Nel while Laina and the dads were on tour.

* * *

Shannon stood on the side of the stage, watching one of the other bands that was playing at the small club that Laina's band were booked at that night.

He wore a black band shirt, with a picture of a purple 3-D sonogram of a baby on it, with their band name under it in white all caps letters, "Japanese Voyeurs."

Shannon listened to this new band patiently, just standing there with his arms crossed. There were a few bands playing that night and Layne had got Laina's band on the bill.

Apparently there was a huge national nostalgia for the 90s. Shannon was pretty glad the 90's were over...they were a pretty shitty time for him with all the drugs and all the shit that had happened to him. There seemed to be alot of "new grunge" bands coming out, along with Laina's band.

The tour had been good so far, nothing too crazy happening. People actually liked Laina's band. Shannon knew part of it was because of who her parents were. People would ask Layne and Shannon for autographs and want to know what they were up to. Both men had been out of the public eye for a very long time, because of all the shit that had happened to them back in the 90s. They were nice to people who recognized them though.

Shannon sighed as he checked the stage out. Japanese Voyeur's gear was behind this current band's gear. They were up next. Shannon loved watching Laina perform. She was so powerful, so confident on stage. She had found her own voice and he loved it. He supported this for her. He wanted this for her badly.

Shannon felt a pair of arms wrap around his stomach and someone press against him from behind. Shannon's eyes fell closed when he felt a pair of lips press against the skin of his neck. He let out a shaky breath.

Once the person pulled away, Shannon turned around to be face to face with his husband.

"Hey merch boy." Layne smirked, wrapping his arms around Shannon's lower back, pulling him to him.

"Hello Mr. Manager." Shannon smiled, blushing slightly as he threw his arms over Layne's shoulders, crossing them behind Layne's head.

"You're the hottest fucking merch boy ever and I want to fuck you." Layne smirked at Shannon.

"Um. What?" Shannon smirked, amused.

"You heard me...you have to do what I say because I'm the manager of the band. You are the lowest on the totem pole. I'm gonna fuck the shit out of you and you can't do anything about it..." Layne teased.

Shannon blushed, smirking and looking down.

"Oh my god Layne...shut the fuck up. Where the fuck is this coming from?"

"I don't know...this whole thing makes me fucking horny as hell...on tour...with you. Remember when we toured together in '92...that's how we met...on a tour...remember the places we used to fuck? Remember that time we fucked behind the stage?" Layne smirked, pressing his forehead to Shannon's.

"Yeah...I think I remember..." Shannon smiled, enjoying his husband's embrace.

"I'm gonna fuck you tonight in the hotel room...I can't fucking wait..." Layne nearly whispered, pressing a kiss to Shannon's lips.

Shannon smirked into their kiss but Layne started getting too rowdy, nearly devouring Shannon's lips.

"Babe...babe calm down...fuck you're always so fucking horny. Calm down! We're gonna do this tonight...not right here in the middle of our daughter's show! Jesus Layne!" Shannon smirked.

Layne sighed shakily, running his fingers through his hair.

"I'm gonna call you merch boy and slap your ass..." Layne smirked.

Shannon blushed, laughing lightly, quickly changing the subject.

"Where's the kids? Showtime's approaching."

"Oh their hanging out in the dressing room, practicing and stuff." Layne smiled.

"Oh." Shannon smiled.

Layne grabbed Shannon's wrist as Shannon was about to turn back around to look at the band that was currently playing again. He turned back around to look at Layne when he felt Layne's grip.

"I wanna see how deep you can swallow my cock tonight, merch boy. And I know it's very far..." Layne smirked to his husband.

"LAYNE! STOP!" Shannon laughed lightly, face red, lightly smacking Layne on his shoulder.

* * *

Shannon and Layne had helped the kids set their gear up once the previous band had left the stage and got all of their shit off. Shannon and Layne could hear people in the front row yelling things at them about Alice in Chains or Blind Melon, but they would either ignore them or tell them that Japanese Voyeurs were great.

They were used to people being weird like this by now and they didn't even care. Once things were set up, they stood on the side of the stage, watching as the most important part of the show began.

Shannon loved watching Laina play her guitar. He hadn't really realized how mature and strong and independent she was until they went on this tour. Laina was a born leader, just like him. It made his heart warm to see most of his traits in her. He had gained much more respect for her, seeing how good she was with her band. He hadn't realized how good they had all gotten as a band and he knew this experience would bring them even closer as a band. He was very proud of her.

As the show progressed, Shannon was smiling and bobbing his head. Layne was going crazy, headbanging beside Shannon and singing the words. Layne had spent more time with the band musically and he knew all of the words to every song. Shannon was still learning. He loved their sound.

Shannon smiled, watching Layne as Layne was having fun. When the song ended, Layne calmed down, breathing hard and looking over at Shannon, making devil horns with his hand and sticking his tongue out.

"Don't start..." Shannon smirked.

"What? That wasn't perverted...this is perverted..." Layne joked, sticking his tongue out and rolling it at Shannon.

"STOP!" Shannon exclaimed, laughing.

Layne pulled Shannon into a hug, laughing with him and all of a sudden they pulled apart, gazes whipping to the stage. Laina suddenly spoke and said Shannon's name to the crowd.

"Okay well, now we're gonna do this cover tune that we've been working on. My dad Shannon wrote this song. I think we've got it down pact now. Tonight is the first night we're playing it live...ever...so you guys get to hear it first!" She said into the mike.

The crowd cheered back at them and Laina looked over at her boyfriend Eli, who played guitar, and smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

"Cover song?" Shannon asked, brows furrowed, looking at Layne.

"Oh yeah...yeah." Layne smiled, realizing that Shannon must have forgotten.

He rubbed Shannon's back as they looked on.

"Have you guys ever heard of Blind Melon?" Laina asked sarcastically, smiling.

This drew a loud response from the small crowd that packed the small club. She laughed lightly, strumming her guitar.

"Well this song is called "Seed To A Tree." It's by them." Laina replied before stepping back from the mike as she looked around and nodded at the guys.

The drumbeat started and then the guitars and Laina stepped back up to the mike, closing her eyes as she started to sing. She was sort of nervous because she knew daddy was watching and she didn't want to fuck this up.

__  
As I shit, I sit and wonder why  
My floor is so cold and my back broken tired  
But life is good, even though it won't be long  
With a candle comes emotions that  
Dance with the shadows on my wall 

_What were you thoughts, as they_  
Were flying through your mind  
Compared to what you feel from  
The bars your now behind 

_If they could speak, what do you think_  
They would say to you?  
I do believe you'd been better  
Off if you'd just told the truth 

_Never had a problem till I stood face to face with me_  
And I wish there was a way for me to go inside so I could see  
All the faces of the people who have torn a piece of me  
As I grew from a seed to a tree 

_Can you feel the power of the eye_  
That's hidden away 5 feet from where we lie  
What do you taste, when you take a drink of me  
Is it to much for me to ask if I asked you to leave  
Please just leave 'cause I want to be alone 

_There's a fine line between love and my feelings for you_  
High time I washed it all away  
Unkind, I watch your future burn before you  
Denied, a chance of any love in your life  
And I ask you one time..Why?  


"Oh my god...their actually playing it...oh my god..." Shannon replied, putting his hand to his forehead as he watched Laina's band do a fast paced cover of his old band Blind Melon's song, "Seed To A Tree."

"Yeah babe...isn't it great?" Layne smiled, wrapping his arm around Shannon.

"Yeah it is...they sound so fucking good..." Shannon smiled, feeling a warmth in his chest.

He was so stoked that the kids had worked on learning one of his old songs to perform.

"What's that song about anyway?" Layne asked randomly, squeezing Shannon's side.

"Hm? Oh, uh, It was about my father...when he was fucking up alot back then...you know, drunk and getting locked up..." Shannon muttered.

"Oh." Layne replied, kissing Shannon's cheek.

Shannon smiled and continued to watch his daughter as she sang the song, singing it silently to himself with her.

Once the song was over, Laina stepped away from the mike and smiled at the crowd, and then looked over at Shannon and smiled and pointed at him.

Shannon was so happy at that point, so proud of his daughter. He couldn't help but to run on the stage and give her a hug, right in front of the crowd, who never stopped cheering.

Laina smiled looking at Shannon after he pulled away.

"That was great baby!" Shannon yelled into her ear.

"Thanks Daddy! I love you so much! You're one of my biggest inspirations! You and Daddy Layne!" Laina exclaimed excitedly.

Shannon's chest pooled with warmth as he smiled at his daughter, hugging her again in front of the crowd.

It didn't matter how old Laina was, she would always enjoy her father's embrace, advice and wisdom. As far as Shannon was concerned, no matter where Laina went in her life, she would always be his little girl.


End file.
